What vehicle do you drive?

Mizake

Mizake

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Hateyou said:
Is charging it free? I always see people list their range but never the electric cost.

I also wonder how many extra miles people have to put on their car when they have to go out of their way to get to a charging station. Thats obviously going to vary drastically based on user, as some only charge at home while others travel further/more often.

What made me wonder that is my neighbor bought a Tesla a few months ago. We went on weekend camping trip and drove separately. He had to go to a charging station for his first time on the way back. When we talked later that day he said “that wasn’t bad, we hooked it up, went to the restroom, got snacks, it wasn’t much longer than a normal gas station stop.” But, we left at the same time and he got home 40 minutes later than we did because he had to drive 15 minutes out of the way to get to the charging station. He didn’t even seem to register that drive time into the “just like a normal gas station stop” thought.
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Depends on where you are at. Here in California, I would guess it's more expensive than most places. I'm grandfathered in, so I pay nothing for charging, but my buddies say a charge is like $10-15 each time.

Most charging stations are located along major highways or densely urban areas, so when you need to charge, the car will direct you to the closest charger, which usually only takes you a few minutes off your route. Obviously in more remote areas that can be further. Also, the chargers are usually near shopping/convenience stores/etc., so it gives you something to do when your car is charging. So you are right, on longer trips, it will take longer. I routinely drive from LA to Vegas, and it takes me an extra 30-45 minutes because I do have to stop and charge once. To me, it's not a big deal, I usually stop in Yermo at the store there, or Barstow at the outlet malls. It's a road trip anyways so I make the most of it. But if time is of the essence for a long trip, then electric is not the way to go.

All that said, I can see how it makes no sense to go back to gas cars. Electric cars take far less maintenance: no oil changes, less parts, so less things to go wrong. I have owned Teslas for over 5 years, and I have yet to take any of the cars in for any significant repairs or maintenance. Since I have a charger at home, I never need to charge unless I am going a long distance. Also, think of all the time you have to spend going to the gas station every week/every other week.....that's like 10-15 minutes each time? I never have to do that. So timewise in the long run it may be a wash: for your average short distance driving, you have to waste time at gas stations, for the average long distance driving, I have to waste time charging.
 
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ToeMissile

ToeMissile

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Hateyou said:
Is charging it free? I always see people list their range but never the electric cost.

I also wonder how many extra miles people have to put on their car when they have to go out of their way to get to a charging station. Thats obviously going to vary drastically based on user, as some only charge at home while others travel further/more often.

What made me wonder that is my neighbor bought a Tesla a few months ago. We went on weekend camping trip and drove separately. He had to go to a charging station for his first time on the way back. When we talked later that day he said “that wasn’t bad, we hooked it up, went to the restroom, got snacks, it wasn’t much longer than a normal gas station stop.” But, we left at the same time and he got home 40 minutes later than we did because he had to drive 15 minutes out of the way to get to the charging station. He didn’t even seem to register that drive time into the “just like a normal gas station stop” thought.
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There’s free charging incentives included off and on with purchases. In the US charging costs is tied more to demand blocks similar to your home rates.

Outside of major traffic corridors, you’ll definitely have to go out of your way a bit. Depends on where you live. It’s currently a trade off like anything else
Mizake said:
Depends on where you are at. Here in California, I would guess it's more expensive than most places. I'm grandfathered in, so I pay nothing for charging, but my buddies say a charge is like $10-15 each time.

Most charging stations are located along major highways or densely urban areas, so when you need to charge, the car will direct you to the closest charger, which usually only takes you a few minutes off your route. Obviously in more remote areas that can be further. Also, the chargers are usually near shopping/convenience stores/etc., so it gives you something to do when your car is charging. So you are right, on longer trips, it will take longer. I routinely drive from LA to Vegas, and it takes me an extra 30-45 minutes because I do have to stop and charge once. To me, it's not a big deal, I usually stop in Yermo at the store there, or Barstow at the outlet malls. It's a road trip anyways so I make the most of it. But if time is of the essence for a long trip, then electric is not the way to go.

All that said, I can see how it makes no sense to go back to gas cars. Electric cars take far less maintenance: no oil changes, less parts, so less things to go wrong. I have owned Teslas for over 5 years, and I have yet to take any of the cars in for any significant repairs or maintenance. Since I have a charger at home, I never need to charge unless I am going a long distance. Also, think of all the time you have to spend going to the gas station every week/every other week.....that's like 10-15 minutes each time? I never have to do that. So timewise in the long run it may be a wash: for your average short distance driving, you have to waste time at gas stations, for the average long distance driving, I have to waste time charging.
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It's basically the same for my family. We have a 2018 Model 3. I don't have free charging but it's rare that we need to charge away from home. This past weekend we took the kids to Legoland and needed to charge before heading home. There's a supercharger on the way back to the freeway, 20 minutes to charge/relax/grab a drink. I don't remember the cost, but looking at a super charger near my home, peak pricing is $.35 per kWh. I've seen $.65 right off a major highway near a shopping outlets. Our home rate overnight is .09 if I remember correctly.

Like any other purchase, do some research and consider your needs/situation/budget.
 
Tholan

Tholan

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We have a model Y and outside of vacations trip (3-4 times a year maybe), we're charging from home and the car is always full.
On a long trip, usually we drive 700km and we have to stop once when driving from my home, and two when drive to it, since we're in the alps.
At first, I thought that leaving the highway to charge would be a pain in the ass; in reality, you're spending quality time in a place that is not a gas station. I don't know how are the gas stations in the US, but most place I go around here are terrible. With the tesla, you go a bit off the highway and they are usually near mall, where you can have a decent meal, playground for kids, etc. Overall nice experiences.
For my work though, I drive quite a lot but my time is more precious, so I use gas and won't consider EV for my next one.
 
Lambourne

Lambourne

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At least in my case, public charging is one of those things you worry about a lot before you get an electric car, and not all that much after you've had one for a while. I've had an electric car for 4 months now and I've used public chargers 4 times total, twice on a single longer road trip where I had to sit and wait, and twice at a hotel where I had to stay for work where I just plugged it in as I arrived and went about my business so it cost me no extra time. All other days, I just plug it in when I come home and it's ready to go again in the morning.

I had an 11kw charge point installed on my driveway, knowing what I know now that might not even have been necessary and I probably could have gotten away with charging off a regular wall socket since I only put around 60-70 miles on it most days and I could get that back overnight off a wall socket.

That's just my situation though, people's car use cases and living situations vary so much it's hard to say what's the right time to switch for anyone else.. If you can't charge at home it's way more of a hassle. If you have your own driveway and your typical daily miles fit comfortably inside the car's range (as in maybe 2/3s of the WLTP range figure) you should be fine. Are you a single car household, do you need to track expenditures per trip for business, that sort of stuff figures in too.

The pre-heating of the interior is gold when it gets colder though, just start it up 15 minutes before you go and the car's nice and warm when you get in, no scraping ice off the windows needed.
 
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lgarthy

lgarthy

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2023 Golf R

Thoughts on snow tires.
I've always been a "winter wheel" person and had a separate set of wheels for summer and winter.
But the 2023 Golf R's calipers make that less reasonable since they can only accommodate an 18" wheel or more. So switching from an 18" wheel or a 19" wheel seemed less sensible than just swapping tires on the same rim.

Oh boy-- did this go wrong.
First off, I am having a hard time finding Blizzaks in the 235/35/R19 size.
Second- I purchased a set of Continental Winter Contacts- When the tire shop was trying to put them on they found a "bubble" on the inner wall and said that they would have to send it back.

It's already snowing here. So option #2 was Nexen Winguard Sport 2-- never heard of them but there were four of them in stock. About $1000 all in. Okay- put em on.

6 hours after having the tires installed, the right front wheel is flat. My donut tire won't fit over the caliper either. Great.
Get it towed to the shop where they pull the tire off and tell me that the rim is cracked in 2 places. What?!? It was driven about 10 miles. How did that happen?

Must of hit a big pothole.

Nope. Bullshit ensues and the tire place is offering to pay for my new rim. I tell them they can but I am taking the vehicle to VW.

So VW gets me a new rim. All expenses paid for by the tire place... I get a little bit of insinuation from the VW dealer that they never had the tire place pay for a customer before. No bill to me but again, the insinuation that the tire place was mroe than a tad aggressive putting the tires on the rims.

Now I have the Nexens on the 19" rims and I cannot tell whether this is good or bad.

I am used to Blizzaks. Now I have one new VW rim, a paid for bill from VW for the rim replacement and tire replacement and nothing but quesitons and possible regrets.

WTF happened? Should I even keep the stupid Korean tires?

If I don't, who should I trust to pull them off and replace them. All bullshit.

But they do have a hot "tire girl..."

OMFG.

Nexen-Tires-Review-2-1024x1024.jpg
 
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Hekotat

Hekotat

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lgarthy said:
2023 Golf R

Thoughts on snow tires.
I've always been a "winter wheel" person and had a separate set of wheels for summer and winter.
But the 2023 Golf R's calipers make that less reasonable since they can only accommodate an 18" wheel or more. So switching from an 18" wheel or a 19" wheel seemed less sensible than just swapping tires on the same rim.

Oh boy-- did this go wrong.
First off, I am having a hard time finding Blizzaks in the 235/35/R19 size.
Second- I purchased a set of Continental Winter Contacts- When the tire shop was trying to put them on they found a "bubble" on the inner wall and said that they would have to send it back.

It's already snowing here. So option #2 was Nexen Winguard Sport 2-- never heard of them but there were four of them in stock. About $1000 all in. Okay- put em on.

6 hours after having the tires installed, the right front wheel is flat. My donut tire won't fit over the caliper either. Great.
Get it towed to the shop where they pull the tire off and tell me that the rim is cracked in 2 places. What?!? It was driven about 10 miles. How did that happen?

Must of hit a big pothole.

Nope. Bullshit ensues and the tire place is offering to pay for my new rim. I tell them they can but I am taking the vehicle to VW.

So VW gets me a new rim. All expenses paid for by the tire place... I get a little bit of insinuation from the VW dealer that they never had the tire place pay for a customer before. No bill to me but again, the insinuation that the tire place was mroe than a tad aggressive putting the tires on the rims.

Now I have the Nexens on the 19" rims and I cannot tell whether this is good or bad.

I am used to Blizzaks. Now I have one new VW rim, a paid for bill from VW for the rim replacement and tire replacement and nothing but quesitons and possible regrets.

WTF happened? Should I even keep the stupid Korean tires?

If I don't, who should I trust to pull them off and replace them. All bullshit.

But they do have a hot "tire girl..."

OMFG.

View attachment 502511
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Man, you fucked your wheels up too? End of September I hit a 6" x 6" black cube on the highway that was almost the same color as the asphalt, I didn't even see it. Blew out 2 wheels and tires. It was not a cheap fix.

20231002_103403.jpg
 
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Kajiimagi

Kajiimagi

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I vowed to never ever ever ever live anywhere that I needed snow tires so I think you are all wasting money.
 
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lgarthy

lgarthy

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Hekotat said:
Man, you fucked your wheels up too? End of September I hit a 6" x 6" black cube on the highway that was almost the same color as the asphalt, I didn't even see it. Blew out 2 wheels and tires. It was not a cheap fix.

View attachment 502520
Click to expand...
It's the biggest weakness of the Golf R-- Too much rim and not enough tire-- makes the car go fast, but super vulnerable to pot-holes and shit roads.
 
lgarthy

lgarthy

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Kajiimagi said:
I vowed to never ever ever ever live anywhere that I needed snow tires so I think you are all wasting money.
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Well, you would be right if you don't live in a place where there is snow.

But I also remember a couple of years back when I was at a conference in DC. 1/2" of snow an the entire fucking region is paralyzed.

I also have been across the continental divide 7 times once (in one trip) during winter. You need them when you need them. Or, more recently, the Roxbury Mountain Gap road in white out snow... Sphincter-tightening even with the best snows. Stranded/abandoned or dead without them (although the RMGR is even more terrifying in mud season).
 
H

Heian

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I know I'm a minority and they looked somewhat weird but I really loved my 2010 golf GTI's detroit rims.

The winter tire on my model 3 are continental viking 7. They are brand new and no snow so far. Could not test it. I had Michelin x ice before and they were pretty decent.
 
Axiel

Axiel

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One of the worst modern car trends has to be big wheels and low profile tires. Who wants good ride or durability when you can look kewl with no meaningful benefit!

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